John Poulsen on Being Happy, Energetic Leadership and Creating Mentally Healthy Workplaces

If you don’t love what you do and are struggling to figure out your next step, today’s guest on Beyond Billables may be exactly the right person to listen to. John Poulsen is a seasoned attorney, an ex-managing partner and is currently the principal of People Passion Performance. He has deep, hands-on experience in creating and developing workplaces where people have a shared vision and purpose, are fully motivated, engaged and empowered. In our conversation, we talked about how to create the kind of cultures and workplace structures that make people happy and productive. We also agreed on a call to action of sorts for those who are unhappy in the law profession: find something else. John’s energy and philosophy are infectious - this conversation isn’t to be missed.

Listen to the full episode to hear all of the above, plus all of this too:

How to build mentally healthy workplaces

The key to career longevity

The value of building a non-hierarchical office

Why you should prioritise people before clients

What most professional service firms get wrong

John’s advice to unhappy lawyers

The difficulty of instilling change in institutional law firms

Why firms need to refocus on people in the age of automation and AI

What to do about high attrition rates

How John dealt with pressure and intensity during his career

How the expectations of the current generation of lawyers are playing out